Netanyahu hopes U.S. rejects U.N. Palestinian statehood bid

Tuesday, March 22, 2016 - 01:48

Israeli PM Netanyahu has voiced hope that the U.S. will reject a U.N. Security Council resolution backing Palestinian statehood, during an address to the pro-Israel lobby group, AIPAC. Rough Cut (no reporter narration).

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ROUGH CUT (NO REPORTER NARRATION)
STORY: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Tuesday (March 22) he hoped the United States would continue to reject any move towards a U.N. Security Council resolution backing Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu first extended his condolences to the victims of the bombings in Brussels which killed 34 people and noted such attacks were now a global phenomenon, citing deadly incidents in the United States, Turkey and Israel.
"This is one continuous assault on all of us. In all these cases the terrorists have no resolvable grievances," Netanyahu told a meeting of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC), a pro-Israel lobbying group in Washington, which he addressed via satellite from Jerusalem.
"A Security Council Resolution to pressure Israel would further harden Palestinian positions and thereby could actually kill the chances of peace for many, many years. And that is why I hope the United States will maintain its long-standing position to reject such a U.N. resolution," he said.
Netanyahu also said he was ready to begin talks with Palestinians without preconditions for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, but insisted that Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas did not back the idea.

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